October 12, 2007

Riverside Unified School District candidates stake out positions

By IMRAN VITTACHI
The Press-Enterprise

RIVERSIDE - Academic achievement, safe schools, vocational opportunities and partnerships between the district and the city are among the issues being talked about by the five candidates for the Riverside Unified school board.

This fall's school board race for three seats pits incumbents Gayle Cloud and Lewis J. Vanderzyl against challengers Luis Aguilar, Tom Hunt and Arthur H. Murray.

Maxine Frost, who has served since 1967, is not seeking re-election because of her health.

Whoever wins on Nov. 6 will help the district grapple with its new designation as underperforming under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Riverside Unified was designated a "program improvement" district because its students failed to meet two out of 46 testing criteria. Students with disabilities and those learning English as a second language did not score well enough in English language arts testing.

Cloud said the district needs to change its designation as underperforming "by looking at the kids who don't perform and offering a way out of the situation." Cloud, who is seeking a third term, was elected in 1999.

Keeping the district fiscally sound and maintaining teacher morale are other planks in Cloud's platform.

Vanderzyl wants No Child Left Behind changed. The act imposed "arbitrary" standards on California schools because the federal standards don't take into account schools' academic growth, he said.

Vanderzyl, a Riverside Unified trustee for 13 years and a retired educator who spent 21 years as principal of Sierra and Central middle schools, said his concerns include the district's financial stability and building on the district's successes while holding its administration accountable.

The race marks the first school board runs for Aguilar, a Riverside attorney specializing in family law, and Hunt, a Riverside public relations consultant.

Both candidates are calling for the district to foster partnerships with the city. They say the district could benefit by sharing resources such as parks, pools and other facilities with city agencies, community colleges and business and civic groups.

Hunt says the district should join the city's Riverside Renaissance project, a $1.76 billion urban improvement and beautification program.

"How can we advance our city and not include the schools? It doesn't make sense," Hunt said. He cited a partnership between Riverside and Alvord Unified School District in April to build an aquatics center together, along with eight tennis courts, a pocket park and a small playground.

Hunt and Aguilar advocate more vocational training choices. Because Riverside is part of Southern California's freight and logistics hub, they say it's important for the district to work with business to create career training programs so students can get good jobs and live in the area after graduation.

Murray is running for the Riverside Unified school board for the second time since 2005. The retired teacher, high school counselor and administrator also ran in 2004 for a seat on the Moreno Valley Unified board.

Murray said he would work to raise student achievement by pushing for greater collaboration between the board, parents, teachers, administrators and community members. He said he also would work to ease crowding at schools on the city's Eastside and keep Riverside schools safe.

"Students must feel safe, and that's non-negotiable ...," Murray said. "Otherwise nothing is going to take place that's conducive to learning."

Profiles

Here are the candidates for the Riverside Unified School District board:

GAYLE CLOUD, Incumbent

AGE: 58

RESIDES: Riverside

FAMILY: Married, six children

OCCUPATION: Self-employed

EDUCATION: Bachelor of arts in literature, teaching credential, Chapman University

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Past chairwoman of Riverside's Homeless Advisory Committee; former member, Downtown Neighborhood Advisory Committee; member of YMCA Committee; board member of Mt. Rubidoux Manor, a senior living center; active in ministries at Grove Community Church; former volunteer reading tutor, Teen Challenge; former member, California Instructional Material Advisory Panel and various site councils; former officer, PTA.

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS: gcloud9@sbcglobal.net, 951-788-9394

LEWIS J. VANDERZYL, Incumbent

AGE: 77

RESIDES: Riverside

FAMILY: Married, three children and two step-children

OCCUPATION: Retired educator

EDUCATION: Associate's degree, Riverside Community College; bachelor's in humanities, Claremont Men's College; master's in American history, Claremont University Center; administrative credential, Cal State Fullerton

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Past board chairman of Riverside's Cultural Heritage Commission; former board president, Community Foundation of Riverside County and Youth Service Center; former president, Riverside Land Conservancy; former president, Riverside Kiwanis Club; former chairman, Riverside Cultural Heritage Board; former elder, Calvary Presbyterian Church; past president of Jurupa Teachers Association; past president of Riverside Association of School Managers.

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS: lvanderz@rusd.k12.ca.us; 951-684-2327

LUIS AGUILAR, CHALLENGER

AGE: 54

RESIDES: Riverside

FAMILY: Married, three children

OCCUPATION: Lawyer

EDUCATION: Bachelor of arts in social welfare and master's degree in social work, University of Washington; juris doctorate University of Minnesota Law School

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Member and past president of Inland Empire Latino Lawyers Association; member of the Raincross Group; former member of the Riverside mayor's commission on police use of force.

CAMPAIGN CONTACT: 951-505-4155

TOM HUNT, CHALLENGER

AGE: 52

RESIDES: Riverside

FAMILY: Married, 2 children

OCCUPATION: Public relations consultant

EDUCATION: Bachelor of arts in political science, UCLA

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Vice president of the Raincross Group; member of Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce board of directors; member of KSGN Christian radio station board of directors; member of board of visitors, Cal Baptist University. Member of girls' water polo boosters, Poly High School.

CAMPAIGN CONTACT: 1-800-540-5485

ARTHUR H. MURRAY, CHALLENGER

AGE: Declined to state.

RESIDES: Riverside

FAMILY: Married, 4 children

OCCUPATION: Retired educator

EDUCATION: Bachelor's in social science, Cal Poly Pomona; master's in social work and Ph.D. in school administration from University of Michigan

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Served on committee appointed by state Department of Social Services on licensing of community care facilities; past co-chair of Moreno Valley Residents for Responsible Utility Service, a citizens' group that placed a measure on the 2004 ballot in Moreno Valley calling for regulation of the city's new electric company and opposing city taxes and general fund expenditures for the new utility. Measure N, backed by Southern California Edison, was defeated at the polls.

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS: ahmurrl@aol.com, 951-656-5456 or 951-656-5356

COMPILED BY IMRAN VITTACHI